Episode 58 — The Great Migration: Living on Jupiter’s Moons! — is Now Live!
In 1610, Galileo Galilee turned his telescope towards Jupiter and discovered something incredible. What initially appeared like stars surrounding the planet were, in fact, natural satellites! These four satellites, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, were named the “ Galilean Moons “ in his honor. With the dawn of the Space Race, our knowledge and fascination with this system has only deepened. While Jupiter has countless moons and moonlets (95 and counting!), the Galileans are not only the largest but have some pretty unique features as well.
Io is a volcanic moon composed of silica and metals, with mountains on its surface higher than Everest and over 400 active volcanoes, some of which spew lava 400 km (250 miles) high. Europa and Ganymede are frozen worlds largely composed of water ice and volatiles but which have warm and salty oceans in their interior. Callisto is an icy moon covered in massive craters and ringed features, the largest being Valhalla (3000 km; 1864 mi) and Asgard (1400 km; 870 mi).
Since 1979 when the Voyager 1 and 2 probes passed through the system, scientists have speculated that there could be life beneath Europa’s and Ganymede’s icy surfaces. Similarly, science fiction writers and scientific organizations have speculated how humans could live on some (if not all) of these moons with the right strategies, technology, know-how, and precautions. Therefore, living among these moons would present tremendous opportunities but also challenges and ethical considerations.
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Originally published at http://storiesbywilliams.com on November 13, 2023.
